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'A great thriller, the best le Carre has written.' Spectator 'A stunning story' Wall Street Journal 'John le Carre is the great master of the spy story ... the constant flow of emotion lifts him above most novelists now practising.' Financial Times

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The enduring novel by one of our greatest storytellers.

George Smiley, small, podgy and at best middle-aged, is one of the meek who do not inherit the earth. Yet he is also a senior British Intelligence officer, as devastating as he is self-effacing.

In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy we meet him in short-lived retirement, deserted by his beautiful wife, wrestling with idleness and disillusionment. And haunted by the secret fear that one day, out of a past so complex that he himself could not remember all the enemies he might have made, one of them would find him and demand a reckoning.

At the dead of night, in the house of a member of the Cabinet Office, a mission is put to George Smiley. 'You'll take the job, clean the stables? Go backwards, go forwards, do whatever is necessary?' As Smiley retraces path after path into his own past there is no longer any difference between the two: forwards or backwards, George Smiley has embarked on a blind night walk with God knows how many bodies at the end.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a world of hoods and lamplighters, scalphunters and pavement artists, where men are turned, burned or bought for stock; a world of moles, legmen, listeners and watchers. And George Smiley is one of le Carr�'s most memorable heroes: a troubled man and superb professional of infinite compassion.

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" has been called the best espionage novel ever written. John Le Carre's cynical and spellbinding spy thrillers are so unique because they are based on a wide knowledge of international espionage. Le Carre, (pen name for David John Moore Cornwell), acquired this knowledge firsthand during his years as an operations agent for the British M15. Kim Philby, the infamous mole, actually gave Le Carre's name to the Soviets long before he defected. The author's professional experience and his tremendous talent as a master storyteller and superb writer make this book one of the best novels I have read in the genre."Tinker, Tailor..." is the first in what has come to be called LeCarré's "Karla (or Smiley) Trilogy", in which English spy George Smiley is pitted against the Soviet spymaster Karla. Written during the Cold War, it is a portrait of that time, with its paranoid and morally ambiguous view of global politics.A botched espionage operation in Czechoslovakia causes "Control," (Head of British Intelligence), and his associates to be discredited. "Control," already ill and aging quickly, dies soon after this debacle. George Smiley, his able lieutenant, is retired in disgrace. The two are succeeded by four "young turks," all highly ambitious men from Intelligence who had been trained by "Control" and Smiley. Months later, a maverick Far Eastern agent turns up in London with a story suggesting there is a mole (a deeply concealed double agent) in the Circus (Intelligence HQ). Smiley is called out of retirement to investigate the possibility that a Soviet mole has penetrated the very top levels of the British Secret Service. The "Tinker, Tailor..." nursery rhyme of the title refers to the codewords for the four prime suspects - the four men now running the Service. Smiley's job is to find the double agent. However the entire Intelligence network is so suspect that he must operate entirely without its resources, for fear of alerting the mole. Therefore he must operate undercover from his own people. This novel has more in common with the guessing-game puzzle of a great whodunit than with the typical action-packed spy thriller. Smiley gradually pieces together the story by analyzing files, interrogating witnesses and scouring his own memory and those of other retired Intelligence personnel, until he finally unmasks the traitor at the heart of the Circus.This is not a simple, easy to read book. There is personal and public betrayal along with the treason of an unknown colleague. Smiley's beautiful, upperclass wife has been unfaithful with at least one of his associates, adding stress to his urgent, high-pressured assignment. Although Le Carre's novels are well-written and convincing, they can be very complicated - and this book is an example of one of his more complex endeavors. The storyline is not linear, and contains many subplots. Much is left for the reader to puzzle out, at least until the end. Just like the spies, themselves, the reader only observes the outward actions of the characters, and must piece together the facts without the assistance of an omniscient narrator. Some may find that it is difficult to get started with this novel, and once started, even harder to see where one is going. The effort to stay with Le Carre is well worth it though. A big part of the fun is working out the puzzle along with George Smiley.An FYI: The other two books in the series are "The Honourable Schoolboy," and "Smiley's People." ENJOY!!JANA

148 de 156 personas piensan que la opinión es útil

5.0 de un máximo de 5 estrellasExcellent low-key spy novel - quite different from James Bon23 de diciembre de 1998

Por Un cliente - Publicado en Amazon.com

Formato:Casete de audio

Here's one attempt at a book review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which I consider is a classic in its own way.The arrival of a schoolmaster at a remote English boarding school is the unlikely beginning of a master spy-story. If the reader has perused the dust jacket, he is left wondering where the connection is. A bit boring in the beginning, the start of the novel is far from spectacular. Characters unfold almost as an aside. Connections are not evident. When the hero of the novel, George Smiley makes his entrance it is almost as an afterthought.Far unlike Ian Flemming with his techno-laden James Bond licensed to kill, Le Carre's George Smiley is a prosaic, pedantic, lugubrious, painstaking, ordinary mortal with an orderly mind. He is a hero like no other. Not for him the flashy glamour of the spy world popularized by Alistair McLean, Ian Flemming, and others of their ilk. Smiley's heroism lies in this mediocre methodic brilliance. And in his prodigious memory.Cast away from the "circus", he is called in from retirement to trap a mole high up in the secret service. His fall from grace is more a reflection of the times than his inherent worth. As the bureaucratic battles yield new order in the ranks of service, Smiley, of the old order, is viewed with suspicion and forced into retirement. But much as the irrepressible James Bond could not be done away by his numerous enemies, Smiley's brilliance cannot be dispensed with by the Service. At a time when no one in the service can be trusted, when it is painfully obvious that one amongst the trusted four is a mole, Smiley is called in for his analysis. Nowhere is it stated that Smiley is brilliant. Nor does he appear to have any special skills. It is almost as an apology that he is called in to clean up the mess in the circus. He is given no special powers to search and detain. His character is an epitome of the British understatement.Yet, as the story unfolds, it is evident that Smiley is far from ordinary. Even more extraordinary than his subtly demonstrated analytical skills, is his reluctant human skills. He reaches out into his past. He cajoles his colleagues to share information. Without overt official sanction, his interrogative style is almost an apology. This queries are excruciatingly painstaking and pedantic. His tone is lugubrious and half-sleepy. His attention to detail is phenomenal. His inferences from interrogation is unexplained.The character of Smiley is an exquisite painting. Smiley appears to be more of an academic than a spy - more at home in the musty libraries than trysting with elite's from the Whitehall. His demeanor suggests a frumpy civil-servant rather than a spy-master. He can be readily pictured as a short, cherubic, owlish, diffident man with a marked disdain for the finer things in life. As he shuffles along the morose London streets, there is nothing to distinguish him from the multitude of middle-aged men beaten by Life. His elegant and beautiful wife, disenchanted by his prosaic existence, and has abandoned him. His chief occupation is in forgetting the time he spent in the Service. Not quite bitter about his ouster, he appears a bit confused. In this, the very ordinariness of the one-time head of the Secret Service is his greatest asset.Le Carre, in his own way, is probably one of the greatest of story-tellers of our time. He binds his readers in a loose sort of spell. Quite unlike the modern authors who seek to rush their stories along at a great speed, seeking to upstage their own previous chapter with something more breathtaking in the next, Le Carre lets the plot of his novels mature by itself. He lets the reader dwell on the plot. He lets them think and ponder over it. He does not insult the readers intelligence by presuming to give too many details. Some of it, he seems to say, they have to work out themselves. There are no fast-paced change in directions yanking the readers from excitement to excitement. The continuity of the story is seamless. Rather like Alfred Hitchcock, he sometimes seeks to bring the reader to the brink of understanding and leaves him empty-handed. A suspense built in this slow, measured and deliberate manner leaves the reader a bit unfulfilled on one hand, but gives some chaff for thoughtful replay of the plot on the other.And yet, Le Carre is rich in his portrayals. The details he seeks to give are more to build up clarity than to confuse. Where the details of Tom Clancy's novels drag his readers through a myriad of technical issues obscuring the plot, most of which are ultimately useless, Le Carre's details are like eye-glasses that bring the novel's environment into sharper focus.Towards the end when Smiley catches up to the mole, we are left wondering how he did it. Trying to make the connections between various incidents and leaps of logic in inferences, we are left with a feeling of trying to catch wisps of smoke. There is presence without substance. It is always so in the shadowy settings of the "circus". Shadowy as it, we merely brush against the even more shadowy figure of "Karla" Smiley's arch-enemy at the Moscow Center - against whom he pits his wits time and again in this and other Le Carre novels. Karla's presence is more felt than seen, less realized than experienced.Some books are evidently put together hastily. Some are well written. Some are poorly written and asks the plot to make up for the writing talent. A few books are not just well written but well crafted. Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy is one such. In the manner of a well-rendered painting, where subtle attention to details lend elegance without attracting attention to itself, so does Le Carre's attention to exquisite details portray a complete picture in the readers mind. The characters are three dimensional, and one can feel them. Like any good book with plethora of details, this novel transports the reader to the physical presence of the plot.Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the title adapted from a nursery rhyme - is a serious read. It is not an easy read, not a fun read, but a read for the discriminating mind seeking serious fiction. The cold war is now past. But the shadowy workings of the tradecraft is still current. This novel captures it in all its realism without sensationalism. It is a simple novel with a complex plot.

47 de 51 personas piensan que la opinión es útil

5.0 de un máximo de 5 estrellasLe Carré can't be beat!14 de julio de 2002

Por Michael K. Smith - Publicado en Amazon.com

Formato:Tapa dura

I'm a longtime Le Carré fan, but I realized recently that it had been nearly two decades since I read what is undoubtedly his best work -- the Smiley trilogy. Based loosely on the Kim Philby debacle, this one is about the realization that a Soviet mole has been busy for many years in the Circus -- the headquarters of the British espionage service -- and the recently sacked George Smiley, a victim himself of the mole's machinations, is secretly brought in by a reluctant Whitehall to identify the culprit and clean house. It's the old problem: Who will spy on the spies? Le Carré is a master of the telling detail, even with minor supporting characters, and all the inhabitants of this novel are vividly realized. This isn't a James Bond yarn, either, as the "action" is mostly in the form of reading files, interviewing agents, and hard thinking. And Smiley, fat, middleaged, and in secret agonies over his wife's habitual infidelity, turns out to possess unexpectedly heroic stature. This novel, and the two that follow, make up the best spy story ever written in English.

20 de 20 personas piensan que la opinión es útil

5.0 de un máximo de 5 estrellasIt Earns its Perch on the Short List8 de febrero de 2007

Por Stephanie De Pue - Publicado en Amazon.com

Formato:Tapa blanda

Upon publication in April, 1974, John Le Carre's "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" was acclaimed a masterpiece of the cold war spy genre, and short listed -- along with several other Le Carre works-- for greatest spy story of them all. Firstly, there was Le Carre's immense, first-hand, front-line spying experience. His lean, mean writing. The plot, dealing with Britain's MI5 international spy agency; it's a marvel of clarity and complexity. The irresistible narrative force. Another of the author's great set piece openings, plus a few more.

As to the characters, there's the long-suffering George Smiley, his beautiful offstage wife Lady Ann. The inscrutable Bill Haydon: at one point, late in the narrative, Smiley does actually think of him as that Russian doll: one doll within another, within another. The implacable opponent, Russia's Karla, head of KGB, MI5's opposite number. Smiley's confrontation with him, in a 1950's Indian prison, sears itself into the brain. The whole MI5 gang: control, Percy Alleline, Ricky Tarr, Roy Bland, Peter Guillam, Inspector Mendel, Oliver Lacon, Toby Esterhase, Connie Sachs, Jerry Westerby, and, most importantly, Jim Prideaux, the loyal man most severely injured by a Czechoslovakian cock-up. Finally, Bill Roach, richest boy at the school where Prideaux now teaches, emotionally resonant,fat, miserable, and devoted to Prideaux.

A dying control (head of organization) believes there's a mole-- that is, a long-term counterspy placed within a spying organization-- it's a term Le Carre actually invented, and the world now uses-- in MI5. In control's effort to smoke out the mole, so-called Gerald, the chief sets in motion an ill-advised Czechoslovak operation, with disastrous results. So at control's death, Percy Alleline, one of the boys, benefiting from an all-around wizard source, takes over the organization and gets his knighthood. But the mole's still flashing his presence. So who is it: in control's immortal words, taken from a British children's rhyme-- tinker, tailor, soldier, spy, or Smiley, whom we learn is beggarman? (Oddly enough, this famous formulation, the book's title, is not introduced until late.) The minister in charge sets Smiley to find out.

Coming back to this book after many years, thing I find most striking is that there's a dimension beyond tight writing, knowing spycraft, masterful plot and characters: feeling. Smiley, close to finally unraveling the betrayal, confronts Esterhase, chief of the lamplighters: the tradecraft men. "It is the perfect fix; you see that, don't you Toby, really? Assuming it is a fix. It makes everyone wrong who's right: Connie Sachs, Jerry Westerby...Jim Prideaux...even control. Silences the doubters before they've even spoken out...The permutations are infinite, once you've brought off the basic lie....Take it to its logical conclusion, and Gerald would have us strangling our own children in their beds."

Smiley is angry, as is his creator, and that will influence the outcome of the final great set-piece, the book's conclusion. It earns its perch on the short list.

161 de 190 personas piensan que la opinión es útil

3.0 de un máximo de 5 estrellasThis is a tough read....17 de diciembre de 2007

Por Chem - Publicado en Amazon.com

Formato:Tapa blanda

For a good positive summary of the book, see the review by Jana Perskie.

Now here's my thoughts: LeCarre's book isn't "bad" per se, but it is definitely a different style from most other spy genre novels. Remember, it was written in the 1970s - so forget the 'techno-thriller' books that Clancey made famous in the late 80s. LeCarre's books - this one included - were however an intellectual step up from the earlier spy/action thrillers...The problem most readers will have is that there is almost NO action. Roughly speaking, its about Geo.Smiley trying to solve a problem (a mole) in the "Circus" using clues from the past. So a lot of it is contemplative and revolves around the "old boys" of the organization talking in circles at times about their experiences (reminds me of Kerouac and "On the Road"). The writing is very circumspect - and introspective - in that regard.There are no Jack Ryans here, no cowboy heroes. The characters are all upper class (or have the pretensions, if not the birthright), understated Englishmen, and working in a decidedly bleak period. In fact, LeCarre's style seems to reflect the malaise of England and the west in general of the early 70s. That is due mostly to LeCarre's focus on the mental maze Smiley must navigate which leaves little room for descriptive settings or surroundings. Colors, seasons, etc (or rather, the lack) all seem to suggest a perpetually gray, damp late autumn day at 5 PM...

This is NOT an easy read - one must concentrate, just like Smiley. Don't expect to be able to put it down and pick back up repeatedly without losing the plot. This is a wintertime book, one to read when its rainy and you have nothing pressing to do (and nothing on your mind).

Its worth reading as an example of a more mature spy (or even drama) genre. But it is easy to see how the modern spy novel (techno-thriller) has supplanted the Karla-trilogy style for most readers...